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K math, fundraisers, open houses, Shakespeare, high paying entry-level jobs

Education Roundup

A UC Irvine professor has found that math skills among kindergartners turn out to be a key predictor for future academic success. Professor Greg Duncan and his colleagues examined results from studies done on 20,000 kindergartners, following them through elementary school, testing them in reading and math. Even after factoring in differences in IQ and family income, Duncan found that those who learned the most math in kindergarten tended to have the highest math and reading scores years later. He has a book out titled, “Whither Opportunity? Rising Inequality, Schools, and Children’s Life Chances.”

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The Obama administration has launched the “Educate to Innovate” campaign, designed to attract more students into STEM subjects – science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Keep your eyes out for a series of events and announcements designed to bring more students into the fields and address the key components of this (much needed) national priority. Education News points out that in the 1950s, GE printed millions of comic books to interest students in science and math. Word is, an initiative like that might be headed our way next. Not a bad idea.

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New stats from the government find that, for Americans with no high school degree, unemployment rose to 13.8 percent from 13.3 percent last month; for those with a B.A. or higher, it fell to 4.1 percent from 4.4 percent. In related news, USAID finds wages increase by 20 percent for every year beyond fourth grade that a girl remains in school. Haven’t seen the figures for boys.

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Sonoma Valley High recently held auditions for their spring play, Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.” Director Jane Martin reports that more than 40 students auditioned or signed up to work as backstage crew, set designers, costume designers and assistant directors. They group then watched the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of the play on DVD and collected their scripts. Rehearsals start this week. The play will run March 2, 3, 9, and 10 at 7 p.m. and March 4 and 11 at 2 p.m. Ticket prices are $7 ($5 for students/ seniors) and will be available at Pharmaca and Readers’ Books.

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This isn’t exactly education news but did you know that, under California law, starting Jan. 1, children must use car seats until they are 8 years old or 4-feet-9 inches tall, up from the current requirement of 6 years or 60 pounds? California is the latest of 30 states to mandate car seats until age eight.

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Students at Adele Harrison Middle School are in need of adult tutors to help with Algebra and other subjects. There will be an informational meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 17, at 10 a.m. at the school’s library for prospective volunteers. During the meeting, there will be a chance to hear from tutors who have already volunteered in the program and are returning for a second semester. The school also expects to have the after-school program director at the meeting. Anyone interested is welcome to attend. For more information, call Barbara Fisher at 573-3399, ext. 122.

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St. Francis is hosting a “Divine” Night of Comedy fundraiser Saturday, Jan. 21, at 7 p.m., in their Father Roberts’ Hall. This 90-minute stand-up comedy show is headlined by Joe Klocek, of Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham, and NBC’s “Last Comic Standing” and features comics Karen Smyth and Adam McLaughlin. The night will also include a mini-live, a raffle and drinks. Tickets are $50 on the school website at saintfrancissolano.org or in the school office.

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Save the date of Jan. 21, for a great night out to support the local teen Skills for Life programs. Sonoma Valley Teen Services is joining forces with the Community Café on West Napa to offer a pop-up restaurant called Ragazzi which will offer a four-course tasting menu, paired with wine for $50 a person. Skills for Life is designed to engage Sonoma youth in gaining experience for a sustainable future. For tickets, call 939-1452.

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Two pieces of news from Sonoma Charter School. First, the school has several students waiting for mentors. Please call the office if you are interested in being a mentor. Secondly, it was great to hear that principal Paula Hunter has office hours set aside for parents on Friday mornings when they can stop by anytime and speak with her about whatever is on their mind. What a nice practice.

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Woodland Star Charter will be hosting a kindergarten open house on Saturday, Jan. 21. Parents are invited to visit their K classrooms and to learn about the school’s unique two-year, play-based kindergarten and its curriculum. The program starts at 9:30 a.m. and runs till 11 a.m., and childcare is available. Reserve a spot by calling 996-3849.

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The Presentation School is hosting an admissions open house for limited spots available in grades K-8 on Thursday, Jan 19, from 9 to 11a.m. Call Beth Fox at 935-0122 to make a reservation. Presentation is also inviting the entire community to join them at their second annual Crab and Pasta Feed on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 6 p.m. The event features crab and all the fixings, pasta, wine, music and great company. Tickets are available for $60 at their web site at presentationschool.com.

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Sophomores and juniors take note. The next round of SAT prep classes available at Sonoma Valley High through Revolution Prep start Jan. 23, and there is space available. See Kathleen Hawing in the College & Career Center for info.

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A well-educated and successful 46-year-old mother of four felt so bad about the stress that her teenage son was under studying for the SATs that she took the SATs herself, seven times in 2011 trying to get to a perfect score. She was unable … but offers an amusing, insightful chronicle of her exploits on her blog, “The Perfect Score Project” (perfectscoreproject.com) and in the December issue of Psychology Today.  She tried almost every major available kind of test prep resource and I’ll post her findings in a future column.

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“It’s painful to watch a child lose. But it’s no favor to the kid to postpone that experience,” writes Julia Steiny in a great piece on theeducationnews.org website, entitled, “We’re On the Verge of Protecting our Kids into Incompetence.” Ouch.

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Hercampus.com did a report on the highest paying jobs right out of college, as well as what kind of companies in those fields are hiring and found:
10. Information sciences $54,038 (Amazon, OkCupid, Merck, Vivismo)
9. Industrial engineer $57,734 (Sony, Toys R Us, Mayo Clinic)
8. Financial analyst $60,000 (Accountants Int’l, Bond St. Group, Vaco Resources)
7. Registered nurse $61,000 (hospitals and clinics)
6. Quality engineer  $65,000 (Lockheed Martin, Microsoft, Deloitte)
5. Network engineer  $68,500 (Bloomberg, Hulu, Vivisimo)
4. Business analyst  $69,500 (United Healthcare, Sovereign Bank, CapGemini)
3. Software engineer  $72,500 (Sage Software, Yelp, IBM, Google)
2. Investment banking analyst  $73,000 (Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley)
1. Systems engineer $77,500 (Barclays, Facebook, Salesforce)

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Sonoma Academy recently announced it will offer 10 STEM scholarships, of $17,000 each, next year for students interested in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math, renewable for all four years. The program is designed to provide financial assistance to high achieving students interested in seeking a college preparatory education. Beyond the scholarships, 50 percent of SA families benefit from flex tuition, which is based on their ability to pay. The average flex tuition award is $20,000 (sonomacademy.org).

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Save the date of Feb. 11, for the Boys & Girls Club Sweetheart Gala and Auction. Tickets are available now on its website at bgcsonoma.org.